SC - Drink suggestions?

[Marisa Herzog]

> ------------------------------
> 
> Date: Mon, 5 Jan 1998 03:51:05 EST
> From: Mordonnade <Mordonnade at aol.com>
> Subject: Re: SC - Seething with enthusiasm here...
> 
> In a message dated 98-01-04 23:46:16 EST, you write:
> 
> << 
>  Without going into typing in all the little bitty italic fine print, the
>  gist is that the verb "seeth" is derived, according to my dictionary,
>  from a sort of all-purpose Anglo-Saxon verb, meaning to cook or boil.
>  "Steep" (as in infuse) is derived from another, Germanic verb, via
>  Middle English, meaning "to pour out", which, oddly enough, is what you
>  do with tea _after_ you steep it.
>   >>
> 
> Hokay, I'll buy that.
> But that just puts the question back a few generations, as "Anglo-Saxon" is
> itself mostly Germanic.  Were the original verbs that different in meaning?

I get the impression that older forms of German would have been spoken
in what is now Germany. Anglo Saxon, while clearly Teutonic or Germanic
in origin, was spoken by tribes living somewhat north of (most of)
Germany, in places like the Netherlands, Denmark, and the Northern coast
of Germany. So, while Anglo-Saxon and other Germanic forms might be
related branches on the same tree, it may well be that the branches are
on different boughs. The split between boughs signifying the point at
which the Anglo-Saxons stopped going back to the Continent every winter,
and became, effectively, permanent residents of Britain. Or, if you
will, English.

In any case, all I can say is that one appears to have originally meant
cook/boil, and the other to pour out. Whether or not one could argue
thay are related processes in the treatment of liquids is arguable. I
don't know. If there is a common root, it appears to have been lost.

Adamantius
troy at asan.com
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